


Herløv

by sinfulchihuahua0602



Series: whump advent 2020 [4]
Category: DreamWorks Dragons (Cartoon), How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Drowning, Gen, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III Whump, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Panic Attacks, Torture
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-11
Updated: 2020-12-11
Packaged: 2021-03-10 17:14:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,058
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28010727
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sinfulchihuahua0602/pseuds/sinfulchihuahua0602
Summary: Hiccup makes an attack plan against a very important Hunter base. It goes very, very wrong.
Series: whump advent 2020 [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2041774
Comments: 4
Kudos: 29





	Herløv

**Author's Note:**

> day 10-12: _cold water, ice, falling through ice_
> 
> y'all. i don't even know. this is so long and the actual prompt is about one quarter of it. the characters don't listen to me, sorry ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

“You think this will work?” 

Hiccup looks at the map again, scanning over his lines indicating plans of attack. He’d found a Hunter base farther north than usual, surrounded by icy islands with mountains and covered in snow, the Norse on the map naming it Herløv **.** The base is on an island in the center of the cluster, and the sea around it is so thick with ice that no ships could pass through it; the only way to the island was between two others, in a section that’s clearer than the others but still dangerous. Enemy ships would have a hard time navigating that strait, while the Hunters, who already had bases set up on the coasts of the islands at the beginning of the strait and ships ready to defend it, were well-versed in it. 

They hadn’t anticipated dragons, however. “I hope so,” Hiccup says, looking up at Heather. That base is so well-defended and hidden, Hiccup knows something valuable has to be on it. It has Viggo’s mark on it as well - using the natural land- and sea-scapes as defenses, making it nearly impossible to get through anywhere.

Hiccup plans on using Viggo’s defenses against him. Heather, the twins, Snotlout, and Dagur are going to attack the bases by the coast and block the strait, copying Viggo’s defense by choking off the entrance with their dragons - but this time, by keeping everyone  _ in,  _ not out.

The twins and Snotlout are supposed to fly back to the island and join in the attack, leaving Heather and Dagur at the entrance of the strait. Hiccup doesn’t know the layout of the island, having only stolen this map from Viggo’s cabin and not actually having seen it, but the general plan is to fly in low and quiet, landing on the coast and hiding in the trees before planning on how to split up and sneak around to scout. They would meet back at the coast, report their findings, and then plan on how to attack.

It was a long plan, one that was meant to last at least a day, maybe two. Hiccup knows something important is on that island, something big, and if it’s so well-defended already, he can only imagine what it’ll be like if they get caught and Viggo either moves it or improves the defenses. They can’t get caught.

There’s footsteps behind him; Heather’s eyes flick to behind Hiccup’s shoulder and he turns around to see Astrid with a bag slung over her shoulder, eyes bright with anticipation. “All the supplies are packed and the other Riders are ready.”

Hiccup nods, glancing over as Heather walks up to stand beside him. He turns and takes the map, rolling it up and putting it in his own bag. “Alright. Let’s go.”

-0-0-0-

Toothless warbles softly from next to Hiccup, who puts a hand on his scales. “Shh, Toothless. I know.” 

The Hunters in the clearing they’re skirting around are loud, obviously at least a little drunk around the fire. They’re singing songs and talking; Hiccup thinks he’ll be able to easily get past them, especially with their inebriated state, but he doesn’t want to overestimate. Toothless seems concerned, anyway, and he trusts his dragon.

The first part of the plan had gone well, with Heather and Dagur, the twins and Snotlout easily overtaking the two small camps and fleets of ships there. When they flew back, and the Berserker siblings were left guarding the strait’s entrance, Hiccup had given them all instructions on where to split up. Snotlout and the twins are searching the east side of the island, Astrid the west, Fishlegs south, and Hiccup is making his way steadily north. Technically he’s still in Fishlegs’ territory, but he’s getting closer to the center of the Herløv base and soon he’ll be deep in it. The trickiest part of this is that they can’t fly - none of them want to alert the Hunters to their presence even just by taking off a few miles away, for how visible it is just by looking above the trees. Hiccup will have to cross the entire base back again once he reaches the edges of it to get back to where their rendezvous point is. 

From here, circling around the Hunters’ clearing, he can hear the low thrum of life beyond the fire and the drunken soldiers, that of an organized base rather than the scouting patrols scattered in various places around the camp. This just proves further to Hiccup how important this island is - not once has he ever seen a scouting patrol sitting around a fire at a Hunter base, let alone so many of them. It makes him nervous, edgy and slightly jumpy. His hand twitches on Toothless’s scales, and his other hand keeps drifting upwards as if to pull his sword out of its sheath. 

The island is so remote, so well-guarded, that Hiccup thinks if they’re captured, they’re not only going to mess up. This island is a prison, for dragons as much as humans; Hiccup has a bad feeling that Viggo won’t hesitate to use it as one, especially for them. Stoick would never be able to find them here, and doesn’t know enough about Viggo or plan enough to break through the defenses on their dragons; it’s crawling with Hunters and pretty much inescapable once trapped. Berk’s fleet certainly couldn’t break through the massive Hunter fleet docked at the shores, not in that icy strait…

Hiccup shoves these thoughts from his mind, as it only makes him jumpier and he feels his hands start to shake a little. He forces them still, walking away from the clearing but still staying down until he’s several feet away.

He slowly straightens, glancing at the distant glow of the fire between the trees, then leans against the tree, exhaling. Toothless is a few feet in front of him, barely visible in the undergrowth and searching the darkness for any Hunters. Hiccup feels like a tightly wound string in this place, worrying about his friends and whether they’re okay, keeping himself and Toothless safe. He still has so far to go, and then has to come back after that, all before dawn. The days are shorter and the nights longer in the winter months, yes, but he truly doubts that he can make it that far in so few hours. There’s something about this place that terrifies him, the way he and his friends could be so easily lost just by never returning from here. He took the only map of it from the Edge, and Stoick has barely any ideas of their movements against Viggo. They’d be entirely alone. 

He closes his eyes, relaxed but not really, trying to calm himself so he doesn’t screw up and actually get himself captured. The wind rustles the bushes nearby, cold and-

“Mmf!” Hiccup fights against the hand that clamps around his mouth, kicking and flailing as he’s dragged backwards into the darkness. It’s a Hunter, and panic shoots through Hiccup, adrenaline fueling his desperate kicks as he yanks at the man’s arm wrapped around his torso, his hand covering his mouth. 

Toothless’s head snaps towards him; Hiccup meets his eyes and a thought breaks clearly through his panic - he has to save Toothless. He closes his eyes and tilts his head back, still struggling, but one of his hands goes down, hits three times against his thigh and makes a loud slapping sound because of it.  _ Don’t attack,  _ it says, as one meaning, but there’s several.  _ Don’t attack to save me,  _ is the easiest way to explain it, the shortest - really, it’s a sort of plea and command in one, for Toothless to save himself, to find Astrid or one of the other Riders to help rescue him, to back off and hide and rescue Hiccup by himself if he can, but  _ don’t put himself in unnecessary danger.  _ Hiccup hopes Toothless knows the risks, knows that saving himself is better for them both than trying to help him. 

He hears the beginnings of Toothless’s growl and screams, muffled, against the Hunters’ hand. He kicks hard at his leg, the Hunter grunting and tightening his arm around his waist - Hiccup hopes that sound covers it and the rustling of plants as Toothless bounds off, slinking through the trees, because the Hunter next throws him on the ground roughly. 

Hiccup hits his shoulder hard against a tree root and rolls until his back is against the tree. His head thuds back against the bark when he abruptly stops and he groans, but pushes himself up and ignores the throbbing pain in his shoulder and head. 

The Hunter grins, barely visible in the darkness. The shadows flicker by his feet and Hiccup barely gets to leaning up on his elbows before the Hunters’ foot connects solidly with his ribs,  _ hard _ . There’s a sort of  _ pop  _ in Hiccup’s chest, and a loud  _ snap,  _ and Hiccup suddenly can’t breathe without pain shooting through him. He cries out as he falls back on the ground, hitting his shoulder again, breathing hard and feeling tears prick at the corner of his eyes as a sharp pain stabs through his chest with every breath. 

Then the Hunter is leaning down, picking Hiccup up and slinging him easily over his shoulder, starting to walk back towards the campfire. Hiccup’s chest bumps against the Hunters’ shoulder with every step; by the time they make it back, his head and shoulder are throbbing and a consistent sharp pain spikes through him, making the tears at the corner of his eyes well up further, though they haven’t fallen yet. 

“Look what I found,” the Hunter sneers, tossing Hiccup to the ground again. He rolls and ends up on his side facing the fire, blinking at the bright light and groaning quietly as it makes his headache spike. 

He forces himself up, though, and makes it onto his elbows once again before a knee jams into his back, shoving his chest against the ground. He cries out; it feels like he’s being  _ stabbed,  _ and the movement of his shoulders as the Hunter yanks his wrists behind him doesn’t help. 

He gasps through the pain until the Hunter tugs him upwards by the rough rope tying his wrists, tossing him so his back hits a tree. He bends down and unties Hiccup’s prosthetic, throwing it aside, and then it’s done. They’re all looking at him with varying degrees of mocking smiles and cruel smirks on their faces, laying on his side with pain stabbing through him and throbbing steadily. 

How fortunate that he managed to get the Hunters who aren’t as soft-hearted as the ones he usually fights, Hiccup thinks sarcastically and a bit bitterly to himself. Figures that they’d be more trained in cruelty on this island - though, that makes him wonder what exactly  _ happens  _ on this island. 

“The leader of the Dragon Riders,” one Hunter muses, tilting his head at Hiccup with a look in his eyes that he doesn’t like. 

“And the heir of Berk,” another pitches in. Hiccup glares around at them all.

“Viggo’s  _ grunts _ ,” he hisses back, as sarcastically as he can, because anger and bitterness are the emotions rushing through him right now and he doesn’t have time for the panic threatening to take him over, for the way the shadows of this prison-island seem to close in on him now that he’s part of the prison. 

Another one of the Hunters laughs. “He’s got some fight in him,” he remarks. 

“Of course he does, to have fought Viggo for so long,” the Hunter who assaulted him replies, and then he looks at Hiccup, appraising him. Hiccup glares up at him, though his glare dies at the considering look on the Hunters’ face, replaced by confusion and dread. “Think we can teach him a lesson or two before taking him to the Chief?”

Hiccup feels a bolt of panic shoot through him and he frowns. “You don’t want to do that,” he says. “Viggo wants me unharmed. He’s-“ he swallows, bile rising in his throat at the excuse he’s using which is not as much of a lie as he’d like it to be, “-he’s  _ interested  _ in me.”

The Hunter tilts his head. “Viggo wants you unharmed, hmm?”

Hiccup’s heart pounds and he feels himself trembling slightly at the feeling of using the excuse of one torture to escape another. He knows what Viggo will do to him, knows that this island is a prison and the shadows seem to press in on him, wanting to swallow him, make him lost to the rest of Berk and his friends. 

And yet… there’s a hope that he’ll escape, if only he stays unharmed. “Yes. H-he  _ wants _ me,” Hiccup can’t keep the breathy stutter out of his voice, panic and logic forcing it to be caught between a panicked gasp and a normal tone, “f-for sex. You know. Like-“

“A sex slave,” the Hunter finishes, lips curled into a smirk and a quiet laugh coming out at the end of his words, harsh and mocking. Hiccup’s eyes widen a little at the humor he apparently finds in it, and he nods. 

_ Sex slave,  _ he thinks absently. Viggo wants him… as a sex slave. Hiccup knows some tribes participate in it, has always despised it the same as the rest of Berk does, but. It was so far away. Berk rescued thralls from other tribes, ones who escaped on ships and came to the tribe notorious for having no slaves or servants. Hiccup made friends with some of them when he was younger - a girl named Lynna who was fourteen, if he remembers correctly. A boy he doesn’t remember the name of, probably one or two others. They were a refreshing change of pace from the Berkians, and he knows now the full extent of their trauma and exactly why they were that way, but they still didn’t judge. Even as he helped them through recovery on the simple, kid-friendly basis that “bad things happened to them” and every one of them had certain things he couldn’t do around them or to them, they didn’t judge him. Not for his size, not for his athletic ability - he thinks he ranted to Lynna once about his inventions and she actually seemed to be raptly interested. They were always quiet, helpful, politely friendly at first (he knows why they were that way now), but Hiccup remembers Lynna, at least, warming up to him. He made her laugh, something wild and loud and carefree. She apologized right after - of course he said it was okay, and privately wondered why she apologized, even as he added it to his  _ bad things happened  _ list about her in that whatever  _ had _ happened, she was afraid to laugh. 

That was the day he realized that was the first time he’d heard her laugh like that, had seen her bright grin after, unashamed and not at all polite. One part of him vowed to make it happen again, to show her that she didn’t have to be afraid, while the other part was burning with curiosity. None of the adults told him, and his father simply said that bad things happened to her when he asked. Hiccup, being eight and very curious about the world, was not satisfied with this answer. 

He didn’t ask her. Even at eight, he knew that had some sort of fundamental  _ wrongness _ to it that made him satisfy himself with watching her, the way she flinched at touches and tried to make herself as small as possible. He recognized it as the way he moved sometimes, when he felt particularly bad about his less-than-optimal “Vikingness.” Eight-year-old Hiccup never solved the mystery, but sixteen-year-old him did, and sometimes he wishes he never had. 

Hiccup realizes, with a dawning, cold horror, that he’s going to become that. It’s not so far away anymore, it’s not a strange mystery in a girl who’s afraid to laugh - it’s a mile or two away, in the form of Viggo Grimborn and his cruel smiles and this  _ prison  _ of an island taking him and swallowing him. 

And it starts with these Hunters. 

“I think you’ll be fine,” the Hunter says, and Hiccup’s flooded with panic and adrenaline as the Hunter leans down and pulls him up by the rope tying his wrists. He kicks hard with his leg, hearing the Hunter grunt, and barely keeps his balance before he falls back down again, standing on one leg and spinning quickly, hopping backwards. It feels ridiculous, and he knows he’ll never be able to run like this, but he can’t stop the blind panic shooting through him, fading out the pain in his ribs and his headache and bringing forward the primal instinct to  _ escape.  _

“You’re gonna run with one leg, boy?” one of the Hunters asks mockingly. Hiccup glances between the camp of six - he’s wildly outnumbered.  _ Lynna flinches as a Viking grabs her shoulder  _ \- Hiccup hops backwards still, heart pounding despite the logic telling him he won’t win. 

One of the Hunters draws a dagger, smirking, tossing it at Hiccup’s head lazily. It spins in the air, Hiccup’s eyes tracking it until he can’t and he leans to the side, ducking his head. He tries to put his hands out for balance, feeling himself start to careen to the side, but his wrists hit rope and he starts falling. He curses his weakness, curses his prosthetic, and then he groans when his shoulder hits the ground hard and sends pain stabbing through his ribs. 

He falls backwards onto his back, crushing his bound hands beneath him and unable to get up like this, not without effort. The Hunter is already on him, leaning over him with a cruel smirk -  _ Lynna averts her eyes, bowing her head in submission  _ \- and Hiccup’s eyes widen, heart rate picking up as panic shoots through him. 

The Hunter grins. “Don’t worry, we’re not taking you to Viggo yet. We’re going to have our fun with you first.”

His foot draws back, Hiccup’s eyes flick to it, and then the Hunter kicks him solidly in the side of his head. It snaps to the side and his world goes dark with a bright starburst of pain as the last thing flashing behind his eyelids. 

-0-0-0-

Hiccup wakes up gasping. He breathes in water, the world spins as he’s being yanked upwards and now he’s breathing air, long, desperate gulps of it. He shivers as the cold air and water have their effect on him. 

There’s a hand on his head, fingers tangled tightly in his hair. Hiccup can’t look around before he’s shoved back down into what looks like the ocean, as he’s kneeling in sand with icy water lapping at his legs. 

He’s pulled up again; he sees the other five Hunters standing off to the side with his limited movement, presumably another Hunter behind him as the one holding his head and pushing him down. 

“He’s awake,” one of them says. 

The Hunter behind him shrugs. “Don’t care, really. This is fun, and leaves no marks. Wouldn’t want to hurt Viggo’s sex toy, after all,” he adds, mockingly directed at Hiccup. 

He goes back down into the water again with panic making his breaths shorter. 

“Viggo will know you hurt me anyway,” Hiccup gasps out when he’s pulled up. “I’m sure he wouldn’t want anyone to touch me. He seemed pretty possessive.”

“Viggo doesn’t have to know, and he won’t.”

Down again, this time with Hiccup’s stomach churning as he tries to think through his excuses - and apparently, he’s dropped low enough to consider Viggo’s desire for him as an excuse. 

He doesn’t talk as the Hunter pushes him down the next few times, because his lungs burn when he’s under the water and his teeth chatter after a bit. The gasping breaths send knives of pain lancing through his cracked ribs. 

“You’re planning... on doing this... for how long?” he pants out after at least four more times. “Viggo… will know. He’ll… hurt you.”

Down, and up. “Shut up,” the Hunter growls. 

Down and up. Hiccup laughs through the pain. “You know I’m right,” he breathes. “You’re scared of him.”

Down… and down, and down. Up, down without a chance to catch enough breath. 

Back up. Hiccup gasps, lungs burning and ribs stabbing pain through him, shivering and teeth chattering. “So are you. You’re going to be his personal slut,” the Hunter hisses back. 

“And you’ll be dead, or worse,” Hiccup snipes back, spitefulness and petty vengeance surging through him at the mention of Viggo’s plans for him. 

The Hunter growls, and then Hiccup’s being thrown to the sand. There’s momentum behind it; he feels himself roll on the sand, further into the water. He gasps a painful breath in just before he rolls underneath and stops several inches under. 

The dark shape by the shore just above the water don’t move. Hiccup shivers and curls in on himself, but he can’t move without his prosthetic and with his hands bound like they are. 

Still no movement; Hiccup has the insane thought that the Hunter will just leave him here to drown, tantalizingly close to air and yet so far. He struggles a little at that, thrashing until he breathes out his air by accident and clamps his mouth shut. 

He tries lifting his head up, rolling on his back and sitting up. His hair clears the water, his forehead, but it doesn’t make it past his eyes and his lungs  _ burn.  _ He kicks his one leg in frustration as he sinks back down, the effort of sitting up like that sending white-hot bolts of pain through his cracked ribs. 

He tries sitting up again, but the pain’s worse and he gasps involuntarily. Bubbles erupt from his mouth and water enters; he shuts his mouth and lays back down against the sand. Gods, he’s so  _ cold.  _ The water is freezing. 

His vision starts to tunnel, closing in on him. Like the shadows of this island, he thinks absently, and shivers in the water. Pressing in on him, taking him, swallowing him in the darkness…

The water stirs and splashes and Hiccup’s being pulled upwards with an arm around his stomach. The arm makes his ribs hurt; he gasps and coughs and can’t see with the blackness still threatening his vision, and the gasping and coughing makes his ribs hurt. He shivers violently, his hands and face numb as he’s carried back to shore. 

His cry as he lands harshly on the sand ends in a cough, water spitting out even as he curls up and shivers and feels tears at the corner of his eyes at the sheer pain lancing through him, stabbing and cutting and slicing ruthlessly. 

Eventually he ends up just curled on his side, shivering with his eyes closed, coughing occasionally. The cold air doesn’t help, and it’s with some miraculous force of will that he hears footsteps on the sand and looks up to glare at the Hunter. 

“Learned your lesson yet?” the Hunter sneers. 

Hiccup shivers. His teeth chatter. His mouth twists in a spiteful smile even as he knows he’s only making it worse on himself. He won’t give in to them. “No-“ he coughs, “-I don’t think so.”

Hiccup goes deeper this time. His shoulder hits a rock, and he loses half his air just crying out as he feels the sharp edges of it cut him. It’s not for as long, because his vision has only started getting black when the Hunter yanks him out, gasping and coughing and still shivering. 

He doesn’t make any sarcastic comments this time - he’s not  _ that  _ stupid and reckless, though he does force down his spitefulness - but the simple look of defiance in his eyes is enough for the Hunter to throw him back in again. 

And again. And again, and again, until Hiccup loses count of the times he’s almost gone unconscious under the icy water, and nearly his entire body is numb. 

By the end of it, he simply lays still, in far too much pain and with not nearly enough energy to thrash anymore. His vision starts to go black; the shapes by the shore don’t move. The water swirls and eddies above him, lit in mesmerizing patterns by the light from the sun. He’s tugged to the side as a wave comes into shore over him, and sways slightly out to sea when it recedes. 

He lets out his breath as darkness closes in on his vision, and sinks. 

-0-0-0-

Hiccup wakes up, and the first thing he notices is the cold air on his face. The second thing he notices is the sharp pain in his ribs as he doubles over, coughing. There’s an arm around his waist, holding him loosely, and another arm crossed over his shoulder and over his chest. He’s sitting on Toothless; the cold air is from the altitude, and behind him-

“Hiccup?”

He coughs.  _ Astrid,  _ he tries to say, but it comes out as water and more coughing and his eyes watering because of the coughing fit and the sharp, lancing pain through his ribs with every cough. Her arms wrapped around him make sure he doesn’t fall as he slumps over, panting.

Toothless glances back, warbling his concern. Hiccup puts a hand on his scales and tries to speak; he descends into another short coughing fit and mentally curses himself in frustration.

Finally, he sits up, Astrid’s arms still wrapped around him from behind. He swallows carefully, and doesn’t cough, and counts it as a victory.

“Hiccup?” Astrid asks again, a silent question of concern. Hiccup nods, putting his hand silently on the closest piece of her he can reach - her thigh. He doesn’t trust himself to speak again, because he can feel the slight tingle in his throat that signals he’s going to cough, and his cracked ribs are already in enough pain as it is.

Her fingers skim lightly over his in response. “We’re flying back to the Edge,” she says, and doesn’t elaborate. Hiccup shivers, only then realizing that he has layers of furs wrapped around his torso, and there’s a bad feeling rising at the way she doesn’t continue. He looks back at her, putting the question in his eyes.

He’s met with- gods, there’s  _ fear  _ in Astrid’s eyes, and Hiccup feels all over like he can’t breathe again. The shadows of that island seem to press in on him again, taking and swallowing-

“We- gods.” Astrid stops, glancing down and shaking her head. “We couldn’t save the dragons there, Hiccup. That island-”

Another stop. Hiccup turns his hand upwards on her thigh, still not trusting himself to speak, and brushes his thumb over her hand. She looks up at him.  _ I know,  _ he says with his eyes, and she gives a small nod.

She glances away again. “I- I met with Fishlegs and we made it near the edges of the camp. Enough to see what was going on.”

“Hiccup, they  _ starved  _ those dragons,” Fishlegs cuts in, distress evident in his tone. “Not just out of cruelty, but they did it so even if we did free them, none of them had the energy to fly. There were so many rare species there, and they- they were feeding them all the wrong food, starving them entirely. They hurt them, too - that island is a death trap, Hiccup. I’d call it like a dragon’s mouth closed to bite, but… that would be an insult to dragons.”

“There were so many cages, and- and dead dragons,” Astrid says quietly. Hiccup looks back at her, and she’s staring down at her lap. “And so many weapons. I’ve never seen so many cages, or so many dragons in one Hunter base, and it was all surrounded by so many weapons and soldiers. There was- gods. A whole area dedicated to dragon bones,” Astrid says with a sort of horrified, detached numbness. “We couldn’t save them - Hiccup, we could barely save you. Toothless found the twins and they sent up a distress call on the part of the island you were on. That attracted all the other Hunters, and by the time we all got there, we only just got you out before we had to flee, or we would’ve been captured. They weren’t messing around, Hiccup.”

“We have to go back,” Heather says fiercely. “Viggo can’t get away with this.”

Astrid seems to slump a little at the mention of going back. Fishlegs’ eyes skitter nervously away; the twins are quiet, even, and Snotlout simply doesn’t look at her. And Hiccup himself… he thinks of that island, and his ribs twinge in pain. His lungs seem to burn a little in harsh reminder, and panic rises up.

“No,” he says - it comes out as a hoarse whisper. He clears his throat. “No,” he repeats, louder. Heather looks at him; Dagur brings Sleuther up to fly next to him. Hiccup can’t meet his eyes, simply staring down at Toothless’s scales. “I- I can’t go back. Astrid, you can’t go back,” he says, looking back at her. She looks up, familiar protest rising in her eyes, but she doesn’t say anything, and after a few minutes, her gaze drops back down and she nods. Hiccup looks around at the rest of his friends, a sort of horrified, shocked silence among them all in the aftermath of Herløv. “We’ll find another way to win against Viggo, but not this. None of us are going back to that island.”

It feels wrong to concede a victory to Viggo, no matter how terrifying the island is, but he thinks to himself that he’s never going back, that he’ll never have to experience the pain and death hanging over that island, permeating through every shadow, and he feels himself relax. He leans back against Astrid, feeling her arms wrap tighter around him and her chin rest on his shoulder, and breathes through the pain of his cracked ribs, the cut on his shoulder.

  
He relishes the fact that he  _ can  _ breathe, closing his eyes, and sighs quietly, relaxing further with Astrid’s warmth around him and Toothless gliding smoothly underneath him into the horizon, towards the Edge.


End file.
